The present invention relates to drink bottles and, more particularly, to drink bottles that can separately store a consumable beverage and at least one additive until mixing is desired.
The vast majority of conventional drink bottles have a single compartment for storing a consumable beverage and are unable to separately store a flavoring for later mixing with the beverage. Certain crude dispenser mechanisms are currently available to keep flavorings separate from a consumable beverage, but such mechanism involve using one time dispensers that rip foil or the like to dispense flavoring. This prevents the drink bottles from being reused as a container to separately store consumable beverages from additives. Additionally, many of the crude dispensers are located in the bottle spouts to also function as a bottle cap and thereby reduce the flow of liquid from the bottle after use.
Conventional drink bottles that have crude one time use dispenser mechanisms are also unable to keep beverages cool or warm prior to use. Prior art thermal energy storage packs are generally known for use in maintaining the contents of a storage container in a heated or cooled state. For example, frozen thermal packs are pre-filled with a thermal energy storage material which can be frozen and then placed alongside food in an insulated container, such as a cooler, in order to maintain the cooler contents, such as food and drinks, in a cold state for a predetermined time period. Such thermal energy materials generally have 10-15 times the thermal capacity of frozen water and therefore maintain the cooler contents in a cold state for an extended period of time in comparison to ice alone. Such cold packs can be reused numerous times by refreezing them between use, and also avoid the problem of melting liquid contacting the items in the cooler. However, it is not always convenient, if at all possible, to fit a cold pack in a drink bottle.
Energy storage materials which maintain heat are also known which can be preheated in a microwave or through other means, and then placed in a cooler in order to provide heat within the cooler to keep food storage containers in the box warm for a predetermined time period. These heat or cold packs generally come in predetermined sizes which are not always suitable for use with a drink bottle, if suitable at all.
It may be advantageous to provide a drink bottle that can separately house a consumable beverage from at least one additive prior to use; that is preferably reusable; that can preferably heat and/or cool a consumable beverage prior to consumption; that preferably does not interfere with the flow of liquid from the bottle spout after mixing contents within the bottle; and that is relatively easy to operate for children as well as adults.